Courtesy of Judith Gregg Librarian Catherine Arbogast heads out with a personalized book delivery from the Los Altos main library.

Love of learning and curiosity about the world sometimes grow only more urgent as a person spends more and more time at home, limited by age, health condition, or both. Librarians head out from the Los Altos main l...

Already known as an innovator in the tech field, Google Inc. is now moving in on the art world.

The Mountain View-based company July 11 launched the “Paint the Town” contest, a “moving art experiment” that invites California residents over the age of 13 to submit physical or digital artwork that would decorate the door...

Traci Newell/Town Crier The six-week, tuition-free Stretch to Kindergarten program, hosted at Bullis Charter School, serves children who have not attended preschool. A teacher leads children in singing about the parts of a butterfly, above.

courtesy of Rishi Bommannan Rishi Bommannan cycled from Bates College in Maine to his home in Los Altos Hills, taking several selfies along the way. He also raised nearly $13,000 for the Livestrong Foundation, which supports cancer patients.

The Town Crier’s recent article on coyotes venturing down from the foothills in search of sustenance referenced the organization Project Coyote (“Recent coyote attacks keep residents on edge,” July 1). Do not waste your time contac...

Photos by Alicia Castro/Town Crier Local residents participate in an exercise class at the Grant Park Senior Center, above. Betsy Reeves, below left with Gail Enenstein, lobbied for senior programming in south Los Altos.

Grace Wilson Franks, our beloved mother and grandmother, left us peacefully on July 16, 2015 just a few weeks short of her 92nd birthday. She was born to Ross and Florence (Cruzan) Wilson in rural Tulare, California on Septem...

Most of us have a place inside our hearts and minds that occasionally causes us trouble. For some, it is sadness, depression or despair. For others, it may be fear, anger, resentment or myriad other emotional “dark places” that at times seem to hij...

As a freshman at Loyola Marymount University, Hannah Montalban hit the first grand slam of her softball career.

The first grand slam of Hannah Montalban’s softball career came at an appropriate yet unexpected time for the Los Altos resident.

Midway through her first season at Loyola Marymount University, Montalban snapped out of a series-long slump with a shot over the right-field fence that cleared the bases and beat Bakersfield 7-6 in the second game of a doubleheader.

“It was unforgettable,” the Homestead High graduate said. “I was struggling at the plate the whole day and was so frustrated. I got behind in the count – I fouled off a few pitches – then I turned on (the ball) and hit it out. It felt like nothing. I didn’t believe it.”

That March 24 grand slam highlighted a season of surprises from Montalban.

Montalban never imagined she would post the squad’s second-best batting average (.328) and top the team in doubles (14) in her inaugural season at LMU.

“I didn’t expect to start as a freshman,” the rightfielder said. “There were 10 freshmen on the team, and I think half of them were outfielders. With so much competition, I knew there was no room for slacking off, and I worked hard so I could get on the field.”

Lions head coach Gary Ferrin took notice.

“Hannah came to us as a bit of an unknown,” he said. “I was sure she would fit at this level but was not sure where. She made an immediate impact with her hitting, and I knew early on we had to have her in our lineup.”

Montalban began the season on the bench, but less than a month later she was proving her worth as a pinch hitter on the Lions’ long trip to Florida in early March. Seeing action in 10 of her team’s 12 tournament games, Montalban batted .438 (seven for 16) and drove in four runs.

“The coach put me in as a pinch hitter, then I started at DH (designated hitter),” she said. “I was on fire from then on and the coach had to put me in the lineup.”

Ferrin soon found a spot for Montalban in right field, a position she wasn’t accustomed to playing. At Homestead, where Montalban made varsity as a freshman, she primarily played shortstop.

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